Monday, November 26, 2018

Defence Corridor: Seven Firms Offer Rs 4,000 Crore Investment

Defence Corridor: Seven Firms Offer Rs 4,000 Crore Investment

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has received proposals for investments of around Rs 4,000 crore from seven companies in the upcoming defence corridor in the state.

The seven companies include three defence public sector undertakings and four private companies. “HAL, the Ordinance Factory Board and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) are the three PSUs that have given proposals. Among the private companies, MKU Ltd, Bharat Forge Ltd, PTC Ltd and Boeing India have submitted their plans,” said R K Singh, principal secretary, infrastructure & industrial development department.

The defence ministry reviewed the progress on the defence industrial corridor on Thursday and discussed land requirement, UP’s defence manufacturing policy and the proposed investments in the project with the state government officials.

Officials said that parcels of land have also been identified and the process of acquiring them would start shortly.

HAL has pledged the highest investment of Rs 1,200 crore, and wishes to invest the amount in three cities. “They have proposed investing Rs 750 crore in Lucknow, Rs 250 crore in Kanpur and Rs 200 crore in Korwa. These are all brownfield projects for which there is no land requirement,” said Singh.

The Ordinance Factory Board has proposed an investment of Rs 1,076 crore but the project is still in the planning stage and hence land requirements will be discussed only at a later stage.

BEL has already identified land in Agra for a project in which it plans an investment of Rs 240 crore.

MKU Ltd, which manufactures safety equipment for soldiers, and naval and air platforms, has given a proposal for investing Rs 900 crore. It has applied for industrial licence which is pending with the ministry of home affairs.

BFL, which is planning to invest Rs 200 crore, has asked for 200 acre land and the government has suggested it some options in Jhansi.

Boeing India has tied up with HAL for setting up a skill centre in the state. Officials said that their plans are in a preliminary stage and the investment was not likely to be significant.

Among the private companies, PTC, a tool manufacturing company, has already started production in Lucknow. “The company has already invested Rs 205 crore in a unit for which ground-breaking took place in July this year. The company had signed an MoU with the UP government during the investors’ summit in February. The firm is waiting to make a further investment of Rs 140 crore,” said Singh.

Around 5,000 hectare land has already been identified for the defence industrial corridor.